Just finished this book with my class Friday afternoon. Such a beautiful story about a "Lost Boy" from Africa who searches for his mother throughout the book. The novel describes his experiences and interactions with all of the "firsts" of American culture. In his broken English he explains how he rode on the "flying boat" to get to America (the airplane)....or how he saw tiny red suns hanging by a wire in the streets (red lights). My kids had so much fun trying to figure out what it was he was describing. Besides all of the beautiful language used to portray English words, the book was written in free verse! This was my first novel I've read that was written completely in free verse.
I can honestly say that the ending is a tear jerker. I could barely read the last page aloud to my kids. As I read the last few lines, I looked around the room and half of my class (boys & girls & me) were all in tears! When I shut the book my kids all applauded....which will forever confirm this idea: the images and visualizations we create in our mind are so much better than those we see on a screen. Don't get me wrong...I love movies more than most people, but the movie is never, never, never better than the BOOK!
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